U.S. women win first Olympics gymnastics title 1996

By Bill Oram

Salt Lake Tribune

Posted:
07/31/2012 10:38:13 AM PDT

Updated:
07/31/2012 10:10:51 PM PDT

LONDON -- Aly Raisman extended, and the music stopped, the final move of a near-perfect team performance. Raisman held her pose, then dropped her elbow. She brought her right hand to her chest, then covered her mouth.

For the first time since 1996 and the "Magnificent Seven," it was Olympic gold for the United States women's gymnastics team.

While the Russian team was wobbling, tripping and falling, Team USA, which has been dubbed the "Fab Five," was nearly flawless from beginning to end -- and it was Jordyn Wieber leading the way.

Forty-eight hours after the defending world champion was knocked out of the individual all-around by Raisman, her roommate, Wieber returned with a force in the team final.

"She did such an amazing job tonight," Raisman said. "I'm so happy for her that she could kind of get redemption."

It was later revealed that Wieber competed with a bruised heel and a possible stress fracture in her shin. Still, she led off the competition with a vault that scored 15.933 points.

Wieber was ebullient, and her teammates said that vault immediately eased the pressure.

The U.S. team finished with a score of 183.596, more than five points ahead of second-place Russia, which struggled on the beam, then collapsed on the floor exercise when Anastasia Grishina fell.

Following the Russians on the floor, the United States needed only to average 13.433 to win gold. They averaged 15.122.

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"After I finished my floor routine, I was hoping that we won," Raisman said. "I wasn't keep track of scores at all the whole meet."

Top to bottom, there wasn't even a nick in the overall performance.

Wieber's vault set the tone. McKayla Maroney anchored the rotation with a soaring Amanar vault that she landed like a dart in a bull's-eye.

U.S. team coordinator Martha Karolyi called Maroney's vault, which scored 16.233, the best she has seen and said "it's a different class, actually." Gabby Douglas, who, along with Raisman, will compete for the individual all-around Thursday, scored better than 15 points in each of the four events.

The United States won by the largest margin of victory for a gymnastics gold medalist in the modern era -- and the largest overall since 1960. In 56 routines from last year's world championships to these Games, the Americans have not made a major mistake.

It led coach John Geddert to assert that this was "the best team of all-time."

But not Karolyi, who gave this team the edge over the famed team that beat Russia by eight-tenths of a point when Kerri Strug, on an injured ankle, nailed the final vault in Atlanta.

"I think so," Karolyi said. "Just because '96 was in U.S. and this one is on foreign grounds."

It was a different atmosphere entirely from Sunday, when, even after Raisman and Douglas advanced to the individual all-around final, it felt more like a day of defeat.

There were questions about how the United States would respond, whether its chemistry would suffer after Wieber's best friend forced her out of her dream competition.

Geddert, who is also Wieber's personal coach, said it was never a factor and that Wieber quickly recovered.

"She had about five minutes of disappointment," he said, "and she turned it around immediately when she got to the village. It was all about today."

After Wieber, Douglas and Raisman finished their floor routines, the team huddled quickly, then stepped back and held hands while watching the video board hanging above the arena. Raisman's score posted, and the team erupted.